Shoot. 
 
As generic as this may sound, I gotta' go with Solid Snake on this one. His character is just perfect in my eyes. Everything I ever wanted in a fictional character.

Pyscho Mantis.  This would be better as a poll.

Grey Fox.

Poll? 
 
Solid Snake.

Raiden. Even in MGS2. 

Solid Snake.
Big Boss.
Grey Fox. 
Revolver Ocelot.
Liquid Snake.

" This would be better as a poll. "

Solid Snake would totally dominate if this was a poll. Anyway, my runner-up is going to be Ocelot, though I thought he was kind of a lame punk when he was younger (MGS3). As an older guy, he's totally cool.

I'm gonna go with Liquid. He's such a theatrical-sounding, over-the-top bastard, and Cam Clarke's voice for him is phenomenal. 
 
I'm not too huge on MGS, but doesn't he wind up being kind of good in the end?

I liked Otacon in the first two games.

Used to be solid snake, now it's none.

" I'm gonna go with Liquid. He's such a theatrical-sounding, over-the-top bastard, and Cam Clarke's voice for him is phenomenal.  I'm not too huge on MGS, but doesn't he wind up being kind of good in the end? "

" I'm not too huge on MGS, but doesn't he wind up being kind of good in the end? "

Drebin

2015 edit: ^was my joke answer, but in all seriousness, after watching that playthru of MGS3, I think The Boss might be my actual favorite character now.

"

"

1.Sniper wolf

2. Ocelot(mgs3 preffered)

3. Jetstream Sam/Mistral

1. Solid Snake

2. Psycho Mantis

3. Liquid Snake

4. The Boss

5. Sniper Wolf

Generally all the cast from MGS1 deserves a place though, it's the gold stardard for MGS "casts" and all the later games tried to emulate it.

Revolver Ocelot overall I would say. I really like his arc through the games and how he is loyal to Boss and against the Patriots, with I think good motivations, all along. I love what they did in 3 with him. Solid Snake and Big Boss are both great, as well as others, but yeah I think Ocelot is the most interesting. I just have always found his dialogue entertaining as well and roles in the game as the double/triple/QUADRUPLE agent.

The Boss, easily.

It has to be Ocelot, in all states of hypnosis other than in MGSV.

That being said all the characters in 3 were amazing for one reason or another even the Pokemon bosses.

Guys guys guys...

Ocelot with a *puts on JF RHEY OCELOT GEAR SUNGLASSES* bullet.

Seriously, he is all over the place, always meddling, in way deeper into EVERY organization than anybody else listed here. Snake is less dedicated to Philanthropy than Ocelot is to anything he joins. If you had a book club and he joined he would read the entire thing in one day, then join a rival book club and dismantle it by bringing all the snacks they had to your book club and it would appear as if he just was a nice guy who made crepes for everyone, and he has some very insightful things to say about chapter 8!

what have you got to say to that?

Only one thing:

Ocelot, the most embarrassing man in the universe.

Solid Snake forever, fucking great character. But a close second is the Boss.

Decoy Octopus

Old thread. Volgin and the Boss are by far the best two characters in the series, I guess I'd give a slight edge to the Boss.

For all of Metal Gear Solid V's narrative sins, easily its largest is the complete lack of elaborate and partially-inscrutable minutia about Machine Gun Kid's background. This gaping hole in the Metal Gear canon must be filled!

Old Snake all the way. Ocelot gets serious props for mixing things up. That's why MGS4's final fight is so amazing.

I'm still reeling from MGSV. I don't know. Listening to Quiet's Theme on repeat sure ain't helping.

Since I missed out on a few Quiet cutscenes in the rush to get to Ep50, I made the executive decision and wiped my 70 hour save. No regrets.

Huey Emmerich - A technocrat who did nothing wrong

Standing on his own legs! By his logic he is standing on his own legs.

Code Talker. All that dialog written by a man who has never had sex. STOP SAYING COPULATION! AND HE NEVER TALKS IN CODE!

Big Boss

I love Ocelot so much. His entire storyline is completely absurd, but he takes it on with confidence and charm.

Shoutouts to most of the MSG3 cast. The Boss is legitimately a great character, the radio team has more personality than they used to (Para-Medic movie talk is great) and Big Boss in 3 is my favorite player character throughout the series.

So many insane characters. I have a soft spot for Ocelot/Liquid/whoever the fuck he is after the arm thing happens. So batshit crazy! Boss also has a special place in my heart just because of the ending to 3. Also Raiden after playing MGRR. There's a reason so much of that game has become a meme. I still have no idea how he ended up 3/4 machine, and it doesn't even fucking matter. Someone clearly lost their mind when writing this shit.

It has to be Liquid and later on the Ocelot/Liquid hybrid, i cant think of a better character in any game. Everything he is involved in is just insanity and he does it with bravour.

I think the Medic from Ground Zeroes is probably one of the best new characters. I do not have sufficient language to describe why he's the best. I just can't fathom the genius writing.

Gray Fox for sure.

But also Sam.

1.Adam (Ocelot)

2.Sniper Wolf

3.Quiet

4.The Boss

5.EVA

1. The Boss
2. Ocelot
3. Big Boss
4. Solid Snake
5. Gray Fox
6. Liquid Snake
7. Psycho Mantis
8. Senator Armstrong
9. Jetstream Sam
10. Vamp
11. GW Colonel
12. Raiden
13. Volgin
14. Solidus Snake
15. Dr. Strangelove
16. Roy Campbell
17. Otacon
18. EVA
19. Miller
20. Quiet

Hideo kojima is my favorite